Guilt and the art of Living
If i were to say I've been learning anything recently, I say it was that guilt is one of those terrible things I seem to be addicted to. Maybe it's the protestant in me, but I can't help but always reverting to the feeling that I have to somehow 'impress' God. This is a pretty basic assumption for some reason, and I'm not the only one seeking Jesus who is trying to kick this idea. But I was struck this evening at how destructive guilt can be.
Guilt is useful only in so much as it directs one into honesty about themselves, and healing. But often the opposite is true. We feel guilty, and we hide it, or suppress it, or in the worst case, can't STAND the fact that we have to be so utterly tied to this Christ guy who seems to exude it (a little close to home?). Turth be told though, it's once again a matter of our misperceptions. And this is what caught me off guard in a beautiful way.
There is NO condemnation from Christ. There is correction, but never condemnation. It's not that my mistakes don't dissappoint him, but he refuses to reject me for them. And I gotta say, I like that.
This year has been a year of me and God testing each other. He's making sure I'm really in this for the long haul. And after almost 6 years of BEING in it, I'm about ready to make sure that what He's saying is true. The Bible makes a whole bunch of promises to us, that often fall on deft ears. We see God SAYING he won't condemn us, then why do we feel so condemned? He SAYS he will set us free, then why are we in chains everywhere?
Sufficient to say, it didn't add up for me, so I've been setting out to be sure of these things. And surprisingly, that seems to be a good thing to do! I still feel let down in a lot of things, but slowly He proves himself trustworthy.
My general question to anyone: why wouldn't you want to know if this God is telling the truth? Are you afriad to find out He's not?
I think when we reach the point where we are able to say yes to that, we can embark a journey that difinitively answers "no, he IS honest".
Guilt is useful only in so much as it directs one into honesty about themselves, and healing. But often the opposite is true. We feel guilty, and we hide it, or suppress it, or in the worst case, can't STAND the fact that we have to be so utterly tied to this Christ guy who seems to exude it (a little close to home?). Turth be told though, it's once again a matter of our misperceptions. And this is what caught me off guard in a beautiful way.
There is NO condemnation from Christ. There is correction, but never condemnation. It's not that my mistakes don't dissappoint him, but he refuses to reject me for them. And I gotta say, I like that.
This year has been a year of me and God testing each other. He's making sure I'm really in this for the long haul. And after almost 6 years of BEING in it, I'm about ready to make sure that what He's saying is true. The Bible makes a whole bunch of promises to us, that often fall on deft ears. We see God SAYING he won't condemn us, then why do we feel so condemned? He SAYS he will set us free, then why are we in chains everywhere?
Sufficient to say, it didn't add up for me, so I've been setting out to be sure of these things. And surprisingly, that seems to be a good thing to do! I still feel let down in a lot of things, but slowly He proves himself trustworthy.
My general question to anyone: why wouldn't you want to know if this God is telling the truth? Are you afriad to find out He's not?
I think when we reach the point where we are able to say yes to that, we can embark a journey that difinitively answers "no, he IS honest".
posted by Barron C @ 5:40 a.m.
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